Differential-gear construction



Dec. 14 1926.

F. LEISTER DIFFERENTIAL GEAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 2; 1926 IN ED'ITOR Patented Dec. 14, 1926.

. UNITED STATES PATENT. oFFlcE.

rAYnTTE LEIsTRR, 'OF- NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, AssIeNoR To THR FAFNIR `nnaRIIIe columnar, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, a CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUT.

I :DIFFERENTIALTGEAR CONSTRUCTION.

Application' mee January a, 192e. serial No; 78,736.

tion is to provide simple durable and effec-l tive means, whereby exceedingly accurate adjustments may be made in such mechanism for the purpose of securing such a meshing iit between the gears as will assure the qule running of the same.

This and other objects will be apparent t0 a mechanic skilled in this art. by a reading of the following description and an examination of the accompanying drawing, -in which- The single figure is a plan view,v partly in section, of such parts as it is necessary to illustrate in order to make clear the construction and operation of one preferred form of` my invention, the differential shown being of the type used on automobiles.l

In the drawing,y 1 represents a di'erential housing. One half of this housing and the parts contained therein appear in section. lt'will be understood that except as to the ring gear there are parts within the other half of thevcasing 1, as indicated in dotted lines, that correspond to those shown in section, and therefore a detailed description of the latter only will suiice.

2 is a propeller shaft so called, which is driven from some suitable source of power. 3 is a driving pinion on the end of the shaft 2 within the diderential housing. 4 represents a dierential ring gear secured in the, customary way to a carrier frame 5. 6 is 'a sun gear having a hub extension, on which the carrier frame 5 may rotate or os cillate when dieiential action is occurring. 7 illustrates one of the usual planet'gears, mounted for rotation on the carrier 5. On the sleeve of the gear 6 is also mounted the Ainner ring 8 of an anti-friction bearing. 9'

is a long ke by which gear 6 is splined to the vdriven s aft end 10, which latter is suitably connected to the wheel (not-shown) of the vehicle to be driven. 11 represents the Outer ring .of the anti-friction bearing. Anti-friction devices, such as balls 12-12 are located between the rings 8 and 11. The

anti-friction bearing shown herein is preferably of the unit handling typeandv is' capable of taking both radialload and thrust. 14 is a. bearing bushing provided at each, end of the assemblyfand having a sliding fit within the ends of the housing -1. These consti *tutel kthe main support for the 'assembly.`

The outer ringll of the anti-friction bearing' is vmounted in one end ofthe lbearing f bushing 14. 16 is a tapered hole or slot' in the bushing 14. 17 is an adjusting screw, having a tapered nose projecting into the hole 16. This screw is carried by the sleeve' like end of the housing 1 in which the tubular extension 15 is mounted.` 18 is a check nut for locking the screw 17 in any desired position of adjustment.

Tt will be understood that the 'corresponding parts within. the opposite end of the housing 1`from that shown in section are ar# ranged oppositely to those which have thus far been described. 10L represents the driven shaft end for the other'velicle wheel. 15a representsthe tubular extension for the other end of the differential housing. 17 a represents the other adjusting screw, which works in opposition to the adjusting screw 17, and 18a represents the check nut for the adjusting screw 17, Y j' It is well understood that inthe manufacture of differential mechanism it is exceedingly important that the various parts con-v stituting the same shall be manufactured with such' accuracy that,- when assembled, the gears will intermesh as nearly as possible in accordance with the designer-s intentions so as to -secure quiet running. According' ly, very little tolerance can be allowed in the manufacture of each individual part. By

the present invention it is possible to have much more liberal manufacturing tolerance, because, by means ofthe adjusting Vmechanism, variations that would otherwise be fatal to a quiet running may be compensated for. It is highly important that the ring loo l loose for quiet running,

'the above screw 17 and projecting screw 17 to the dethe adjusting screw 17 is retracted and the adjusting screw 17 is projected. This causes the tapered nose of the screw 17 to engage the bearing bushing 16, so as to wedge it to the right to-the .necessary extent and, since this is directly connected with all the other parts of the diiierentialmechanism up to and including the ring gear, these parts to the lright correspondingly -and bring the gears 4 3 into closer mesh. j

If the meshing is found to be too tight,

bodily movement in an opposite direction to parts is effected by retractmg sired degree.

'This endwise adjustment of the differential assembly may be made while the mechanism is running, and hence it' is possible for the operator toadjust these parts with the utmost nicetv.

Y Then the desired adjustment has been attained, both screws 17-17a should bear firmly against their respective bearing bushings, so as to hold the differential assembly against further endwise movement, until it may become-desirable to again adjust. So far as I am aware the means for efecting this endwise adjustment of the differential carrier and associated parts is novel.

I have shown and described my invention in one preferred and successful form, but I wish it to be understood that various moditications and changes may be made in construction and design without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claim.

all move bodily l to show in a separate application, which embodies broadly the same principle of adjustment as disclosed and claimed herein.

I claim:

In a differential transmission mechanism, a housing, -a differential assembly unit therein, including a carrier, sun and planet gears carried thereby, a beveled ringgear carried thereby, two supporting bushings vslidable but non-rotatable Within the housing and supporting the carrier, a beveled driving pinion mounted within the housing independently vof the differential assembly and co-acting with saidbeveled ring gear, and means for shifting the carrier to control the adjustment between the ring gear and the driving pinion, said means comprising two independently operable adjusting screws arranged, respectively, at opposite ends of the housing and both accessible at the outside thereof, the inner ends of said adjusting screws making oppositely-pitched beveled engagement with sald bushings, respectively, whereby said carrier and its associated parts may be positively moved to any degree for varying the aforesaid adjustment, one of said screws moving said carrier in one direction only, the other screw moving saidcarrier in the opposite direction only.

FAYETTE .LEISTER 

